(1)
Subject to the provisions of this section, a Hindu wife, whether married before or after the commencement of this Act, shall be entitled to be maintained by her husband during her life time.
(2)
A Hindu wife shall be entitled to live separately from her husband without forfeiting her claim to maintenance—
- if he is guilty of desertion, that is to say, of abandoning her without reasonable cause and without her consent or against her wish, or wilfully neglecting her;
- if he has treated her with such cruelty as to cause a reasonable apprehension in her mind that it will be harmful or injurious to live with her husband;
- if he has any other wife living;
- if he keeps a concubine in the same house in which his wife is living or habitually resides with a concubine elsewhere;
- if he has ceased to be a Hindu by conversion to another religion;
- if there is any other cause justifying living separately.
(3)
A Hindu wife shall not be entitled to separate residence and maintenance from her husband if she is unchaste or ceases to be a Hindu by conversion to another religion.